


Everdream

by Trash



Category: Linkin Park
Genre: Crack, fairy tale on crack, lots and lots of crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 07:31:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1042079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trash/pseuds/Trash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In reality Rob is unhappy. But, in his dreams, he flies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everdream

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Banbury, there lived a simpleton by the name of Rob. Or at least, this is what had been drilled into him by his family, his friends, their family and their friends. And when you hear something enough you start to believe it. When people think you don’t know anything it’s easy to pretend – Rob had no trouble playing the part and pretending like it didn’t hurt.

But even as a simpleton he knew that he’d rather be himself than anyone else. He was never sure what was so smart about gossiping or planning war anyway. Death and deceit didn’t scream intelligence to him.

In his dreams his friends treat him like an equal, and his parents didn’t talk down to him. He could say anything he liked without people thinking he was stupid, and nobody second guessed his words or decisions.

The biggest event of the year was always the Summer solstice festival. All bright colours, laughter and dancing, jugglers and acrobats and another year of Rob sitting in the corner watching with boredom.

He wanted to stay in bed, sleep right through the whole day, but it turned out the sun went right on shining no matter how bad he felt. He lay in bed and stared at the window, his eyes stinging from the glare, until a voice called up to him.

“Robert!” the voice boomed, “Get up, get dressed and get down here now.”

And, like the simpleton he is, he jumps to. Follows commands without question because it’s easier that way. Once he’s dressed he shuffles dowstairs to the kitchen where Cook is waiting for him, her face turning increasingly more red. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, dropping his head and drawing circles on the ground with his toes.

The huge woman puffed up indignantly, “Never mind, stupid boy,” she mutters and fumbles in her apron, producing a handful of coins, “I have an errand for you to run.”

Rob looks up, confused. Nobody has ever trusted him to do anything on his own. In case he got lost. Or forgot.

“Don’t look so proud of yourself. Everybody else is busy and I’m busy. I need you to pick up some things from the market for dinner,” she digs through her apron again, thrusting a scrap of paper, along with the coins, towards him.

Rob blinks and stares for a moment before taking them from her and putting them in his pockets. He smiles simply, “Okay.” And turns to leave.

***

He returns from town two hours later, empty handed and caked from head to toe in mud. Another bad thing about being the village idiot is people notice him more than he would like. Especially groups of mischevious kid who had no qualms in tripping him and beating him in order to make him look like a fool for their own amusement.

As if being robbed wasn’t bad enough, he had to face Cook now, who he knew wouldn’t be happy. He tries to slip in the backdoor without anybody noticing. He’s half way across the kitchen when a voice snaps “Where are my items, boy?”

He turns slowly and looks up into her angry face and cowers, “I-I was…I was r-robbed.”

She folds her arms across her chest and scoffs, “You got robbed? Typical. I should have seen this coming.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, staring at his feet.

“You’re sorry?” She hisses, “You’re sorry?!”

He doesn’t see it coming, and the next thing he knows he’s on the floor, his cheek stinging and his eyes filled with shocked tears. It’s not the first time she’s hit him, but it still takes him by surprise every time.

“Get out of my sight, you useless little worm.” She demands and turns away, leaving him to crawl from the room unseen or, rather, ignored.

***

He cleans himself and his clothes up as much as he can before climbing into bed and pulling the covers up over his head to block out the sun and the cheers from downstairs. Sleep comes easily to him as it always has, and he soon drifts off.

He wakes up to a hand stroking his hair tenderly. He opens his eyes and looks up into the face of a young man, probably no older than Rob himself, with wild, curly hair and kind eyes. “You’re awake.”

Rob frowns and sits up. “Who are you?” He asks, taking in the man’s appearance.

“I’m Brad,” he says, “I know you’re sad.”

“I’m not sad!” Rob protests but Brad just smirks knowingly.

“You’ve been crying. You can’t do anything right around here. But I know some place where you can.” Brad gets up off the bed and heads over to the window. This is the first time Rob notices his wings. Long, beautiful wings all the colours of the rainbow. They made him think of butterflies or the fairies he’d seen in the picture books he’d had as a child.

“You…what are you?”

“Your hero,” Says Brad with a bright smile. He climbs onto the window ledge and opens the window, “Come on!”

Rob jumps up when Brad disappears from sight and sees him fly away towards the forest. It isn’t high from Rob’s window to the ground, so he carefully climbs onto the ledge and reaches out, grabbing the drain pipe and sliding down.

He runs in the direction Brad went, following him the best he can. The forest is somewhere he never liked to go. Not many people went in there save for the hunters. But he held his head high and ran, darting between the trees.

He eventually reaches a waterfall that cascades down the sheer cliff face and flows away through the forest. “Brad?” he calls out, “Are you here?”

There’s nothing to be heard but the rush of water and the sounds of the birds. There are no footsteps of voices. There’s just him, and the wildlife.

He goes to call Brad’s name again when somebody whistles loudly. Rob looks up and sees a figure behind the waterfall and automatically follows the sound. He walks around the edge of the pool at the bottom and looks up behind the waterfall. There is a big, empty cave and Brad standing with his hands on his hips and a grin on his face, “Are you coming?”

Rob climbs up into the cave gracelessly, the water soaking his hair and clothes. Brad bends down and sticks out a hand to help him up, pulling him to his feet. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” says Rob with a smile, “Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere you belong,” says Brad, his wings fluttering behind him excitedly, “come on.”

The cave narrows off into a long, stone corridor which Brad leads Rob down. Eventually the cave widens out and gets lighter, leading them both to an area Rob had no idea existed. “Where are we?” He asks, wide eyed, looking up in awe as a flock of what appears to bird flies over head.

“The other side of the waterfall,” says Brad, “You’re lucky. Not many people get to come here.”

Rob watches the birds fly and squints. “Those are…pies.”

Brad frowns, “So?”

The fairy looks hurt, as if Rob had insulted him, so he says “No reason, I’m just surprised. Do you live here?”

“Yes. And you can too, now. If you want.”

Rob nods and steps out of the cave onto the soft grass in front of him. The sky here is so much bluer than at home, the trees are greener and the air is fresher. There are other fairies around, none of them casting him anything other than welcoming glances. There are no scornful looks here, no hurtful words. “Really?”

Brad steps behind him and wraps his arms around his waist, nodding, “Yes. Really. Welcome home.”

***

Brad leads Rob to a pool of something dark. It looks like a pie full of mud. “Chocolate,” Brad says, “it’s chocolate. Not mud.”

Rob leans over the silver edge of the pool and dips a finger into the centre. He licks the liquid from it and smiles up at Brad, “It is chocolate.”

He gets no response but a cheeky smile from the fairy who is busy pulling off his tight wifebeater. He flexes his wings with a sigh and begins pulling off his tutu. This is when Rob sees the fairy dust for the first time, when he’s fidgeting and looking away as the fairy undresses. It’s a tiny bag attached to Brad’s skirt. A pouch made of what looks like leather and, without looking up, Rob says “What’s that?”

“Wanna see?”

Rob looks up, locking eyes with Brad as he nods. The fairy grabs the pouch and dips a finger into it. When he pulls it out it’s shimmering and glittery and he reaches out, drawing a line under each of Rob’s eyes.

“What does it to?”

“It harnesses an intention,” says Brad, “I want you to relax. You shouldn’t be scared here. I want to see you smile.”

The only sounds are the insects in the grass and the pies nesting in the trees. Brad had tried to explain about them – different species, he said, cherry, apple, pecan. He says you can catch them and eat them and they wouldn’t put up a fight, but nobody ever does because it’s cruel. They’ve never hurt anybody their whole lives, so nobody here is ready to start a fight with them.

Rob smiles and Brad says “You coming in?”

He steps into the pool of chocolate which reaches up to his waist. He goes deeper until only his shoulders are visible, it feels smooth and comforting against his bare skin. Rob turns away from Brad for a second to undress and climbs in clumsily, staggering through the chocolate. He’s surprised at how warm it is and he smiles again, “I really like it here.”

The fairy steps closer to him and cups his chin. Rob blushes bright red and lowers his eyes. Until Brad kisses him, then his eyes widen and he steps back saying, “I…I don’t….I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Don’t worry,” says Brad softly, “I won’t hurt you.”

And they kiss. Rob’s pretty sure he’s doing it all wrong, but he follows Brad’s lead the best he can, moving his lips softly against the fairy’s. This is his first kiss and he doesn’t think he could have possibly asked for anything more.

Brad slides his hands onto Rob’s hips and sways them both gently. “What are we doing?” Rob asks.

“Dancing.”

“There’s no music.”

“Does it matter?”

It doesn’t. Rob rests his head on Brad’s shoulder and smiles to himself as they dance. Brad’s wings flutter once and Rob can’t help himself, reaches out and touches one softly. Brad gasps and flexes his wings, arches his back. Rob pulls back enough to see the fairy’s expression, scared he’s hurt him. But Brad’s eyes are closed and his lips parted and Rob knows enough to know that isn’t a bad thing.

He reaches out again and strokes the tip of the wing again and Brad slides his hands lower to cup Rob’s ass. He shivers and confesses “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“You’ve never done this before?”

Rob shakes his head, embarrassed, “Nobody liked me.”

He wants to cry but Brad kisses him softly again and says “I like you. A lot.”

“I like you too,” Rob says and they kiss slowly.

Brad’s hand slips from Rob’s hip to wrap around his cock and he gasps, hardening instantly. He moans Brad’s name softly and clings to him as the hand begins to move slowly. Brad watches Rob’s eyes fall closed and his chest rise and fall erratically as he moves closer and closer to the brink of his orgasm.

The fairy pulls away and kisses Rob softly. “Do you want to make love?”

Rob blushes again, grateful of the dark, and smiles weakly “I’ve never...”

“I won’t hurt you,” Brad says and drifts over to the edge of the pool, grabbing the little leather pouch full of fairy dust. He pinches some between his fingers and wades back over to Rob, “I promise.”

He blows on his hand and the dust floats in a glittering cloud around Rob’s face. He wants to ask Brad what his intention was this time, but he doesn’t, instead he leans in and they kiss again. Brad pushes him up against the side of the pool and reaches behind Rob’s body, pushing one finger into him carefully.

Rob gasps and shifts as Brad pushes in a second finger, followed by a third. It hurts but not as much as he had thought it would and when Brad crooks his fingers he moans loudly. Brad smiles at him encouragingly and kisses his neck murmuring  
“Are you okay?”

Rob nods breathlessly, and unconsciously bucks his hips down onto Brad’s fingers, “I’m great,” he says.

Brad pulls out his fingers slowly and whispers, “Turn around, it’ll be easier.”

Obeying, Rob turns around and lets Brad manouever him until he his bending over a little, legs spread and arms leaning against the edge of the pool. When Brad pushes into him he tenses up but soon relaxes when a voice in his ear says “I love you.”

This. Here. In the pool of chocolate with the apple pies singing and the cherry pies chirping in reply, the sky full of stars and Brad’s hot breath on his neck. This is Rob’s idea of heaven.

***

After that night they make love under the stars at every oppurtunity and then one night Brad says “Do you want to stay here?”

This isn’t something they’ve discussed before, Rob had just accepted that he wouldn’t be able to live with Brad forever, he had come to terms with the fact that he’d have to go home some day. But now this. And he says “I really do.”

Brad’s face lights up and he reaches into his bag for the fairy dust again, “Turn around,” he says, and Rob turns so his bare back his facing Brad. The fairy draws on his back, just on his shoulder blades. The touch tickles and Rob giggles.

“We should sleep,” says Brad, wrapping an arm around Rob’s waist and pulling him to lie beside him.

And, under the smiling stars, they sleep.

***

When Rob wakes up he knows, instantly, that something is different. He’s lying on his back with Brad’s head pillowed on his stomach and he’s uncomfortable. He sits up and stretches and jumps when something behind him moves. “I have wings?!” He exclaims, reaching behind him to touch them.

He stands up and flexes them experimentally, moving them until he can see them. They’re rainbow coloured, like Brad’s, and they’re beautiful. Brad, lying on the grass, smiles up at Rob and says “Now you really belong here.”

“Can I fly?” Rob asks excitedly and Brad giggles, nods, and Rob grins broadly, “Show me how?”

Brad gets up and says “Bend your knees and jump,” he says, “but make sure you move your wings.”

Rob flexes and relaxes, fluttering his wings behind him experimentally. He bends his knees the way Brad tells him and jumps, his wings spreading behind him and lifting him off the ground.

Brad calls up to him “You have to flap them! Or you’ll fall!”

Rob does as he’s told, going higher and higher in a straight line above Brad’s head. “How do I come down?!”

“Carefully!”

***

It doesn’t take long before Rob and Brad are soaring over the trees, high above the pies and the other fairies looking up at them from below. It doesn’t take long before Rob forgets about home and his family and the person he used to be.

He’s finally happy here, and hand in hand with Brad, he flies.

***

Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Banbury, the people are holding a funeral. Doctors aren’t sure what happened or why the young man died. They say it’s like he just went to sleep and never woke up.

The family of the deceased stand over his grave, dry eyed and sighing. Their son is dead, but they can’t conjure up any tears for him. Truth is their lives will be much easier without him. He was too much to look after. He was simple and needed to be watched over.

But now he’s gone. They should be happy but they have no scapegoat now. When things go wrong they have nobody to point the finger at. There’s nobody now for them to take their problems out on. They have to face their fears now.

The mother, Mrs Bourdon, looks to the sky as the coffin is lowered into the ground and she watches two butterflies flutter above her head. She frowned and watched them soar on the wind, their rainbow wings fluttering. They flew over her son’s grave and up, up, up to the clouds, and disappeared out of her sight.


End file.
